Authors notes: You guys are amazing! Seriously, I mean that! I'm really glad you liked the last chapter as much as the first! Another 38 emails!
Here's the third instalment. I hope you enjoy this one too. Please let me know what you think, even if its just a couple of words. I tend to write faster when I know you guys are waiting for an update!
I've already started working on chapter 4.
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"Charlie?" she repeated, dumbfounded. Surely it couldn't be…
"Charlie," he said again, looking at her with a worried expression.
"As in?" she felt her throat tighten as she looked him in the eyes properly for the first time. Oh God… they were the same shade of brown…
"O'Neill," he said, drawing out his name. "What's going on?"
"How..? Where..?" she stammered trying to wrap her head around the information that had thrown her for a loop.
"I came through the mirror," he explained, looking around the room, suddenly very nervous. "I'm not part of the Atlantis team in this reality, am I?"
"No, you're not," she said softly. "Clear the room," she commanded to all the unnecessary staff, effectively leaving just the guards at the door and Keller in the corner awaiting the results.
"Mom?" he asked looking up at her. His eyes glinted with something that she didn't quite catch before he masked it. He was proving to be his father's son.
"Why did you come here?" she asked.
"My reality's Atlantis was being destroyed by the Wraith. They had the 'gate heavily guarded. I couldn't use that to get home. I couldn't get to the jumpers. The mirror was my best option. As far as I know, I was the only one left…. Mom? What's going to happen to me?"
"Why do you call me mom?" she asked as she pulled up a chair next to his bed, far enough away so that he couldn't touch her, but close enough to assure him that she was interested in what he had to say.
"Because you're my mother."
"I'm your mother?" she asked, trying to process the information.
"Not biologically," he said quietly, looking down at his hands. "But in every other sense of the word…"
Sam looked at the obviously upset young man sitting on the bed before her. He remained quiet for a while, lost in his own thoughts. She watched him fidget with the thin blanket covering his lower body. She couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her face. He was so like Jack…
"My biological mother was killed in a car accident when I was five. We have that in common in my reality. Not the ages, just the situation. It helped create a bond between us early on. I went without a mother for three years before dad met you. He was seeing you for a little while before he brought you home to meet me. Dad says I instantly fell in love with you.
"I would follow you around the house and just stare at you. You were so beautiful. Still are. You would come around and stay for dinner, you would put me to bed, tuck me in and read me a story. Dad said I was too old for bedtime stories, but you loved reading them to me. And I loved spending time with you.
"I hated it when you weren't there. I didn't understand your relationship with dad to begin with. I just thought you were his friend. I woke up during the night from a nightmare one night. I crept down the stairs and found you and dad in the living room. He pulled you in for a kiss and I started to cry. You were by my side in seconds, wrapping me in your arms. It didn't make sense to my eight-year-old brain. I thought you were there to kiss me, not dad.
"You spent Christmas with us that year. You and dad had been together for almost a year, that I knew of. I crawled up onto your lap and wrapped my arms around your neck after I had opened the Star Wars Jedi outfit you had gotten me. I asked you if I could call you mom. You started to cry. I didn't understand why. I thought I had done something wrong.
"You just hugged me for awhile before dad asked me to move. He pulled you to your feet and knelt down in front of you. He presented you with the most amazing ring I've ever seen and asked you to marry him. You said yes. Dad kissed you then you turned back towards me and picked me up. I was crying. You hadn't answered my question. I didn't understand what dad had asked you. You said you'd love for me to call you mom as you wiped away my tears.
"It was the best Christmas ever. I can't remember Christmases with my real mom. There's photos that dads given me, and I'll treasure them forever. But for most of my life, you're the only mother I've ever known," he said to the sheets, only looking at her as he finished talking.
"Charlie…"
"Do you know my dad in this reality?" he asked hopefully.
"Yes, I do," she nodded, feeling a connection starting to form with her alternate reality step-son.
"But you don't know me," he said sadly, looking away from her.
"Charlie…"
"So what am I doing in this reality?"
"You…" she stopped, glancing around the room when she heard Keller walk over to them.
"I have the results. He's definitely the son of General O'Neill," she whispered to Sam as she handed her the tablet computer.
"Thank you," Sam smiled and glanced over the data.
"So?" he pressed softly, his gaze still on his hands.
"You are who you say you are apparently," she said just as softly. He nodded.
"So what am I doing in this reality?" he asked again. He looked towards her when she didn't answer. "Mom?" he said when she continued to stare at the tablet in front of her.
"You… died, a year before I met your dad," she said barely above a whisper, but she knew he had heard her.
"Dead? I'm dead?"
"Yeah," she nodded.
"My mom?"
"Alive."
"So they're still together?" he asked, not sure if he was hopeful or not.
"No, they divorced. Your dad went through a really tough time after it happened. It wasn't fair on either of them."
"When?" he took a deep breath. "How old was I?"
"Eight, almost nine," she replied, her eyes raising to meet his.
"So…. What are you to dad in this reality? His friend? I've watched the two of you be in love since I was eight. But I understand that things are different here."
"I'll leave you to rest," she said as she stood up and moved the chair back to where it had been, avoiding his question. She didn't want to reveal too much to the apparent son of her husband. There was far too much they didn't know.
She smiled at him before turning around and leaving the infirmary, informing the guards that he wasn't to leave.
She stopped dead in her tracks once she got round the corner.
Oh God…
She had to tell Jack… What was she going to tell him? How was she going to tell him?
SJ
"Dial Earth," she said as she came to a stand still beside Chuck, the gate technician on duty.
"Yes ma'am," he said as he started to press the symbols on the control panel.
The wormhole established before them. Sam ever tired of seeing it. After a few seconds Sam heard a familiar voice.
"Atlantis," General Hank Landry's voice said cheerfully.
"General," Sam smiled.
"Good to hear your voice Colonel. I trust everything is well on your end?"
"For the most part, yes Sir. I need you to send a message to General O'Neill for me," she said, getting straight to the point. She knew she would have to get it over with as soon as possible, before she lost her nerve.
"Of course Colonel," Landry replied. Sam could hear the smile in his voice. General Landry was one of the few people who knew about her marriage to Jack. "What's your message?"
They had decided early on that they wouldn't be keeping their relationship a secret. But they wouldn't be broadcasting it either.
"I need you to get him to Atlantis, as soon as possible. It's very important. Tell him to prepare himself for anything."
"Is everything alright Colonel?" Landry asked, worry creeping its way into his voice.
"I'll explain everything in my report Sir. But for now, this is a need-to-know situation."
"I'll send the message. Take care of that team of yours Colonel. Landry out."
The wormhole disengaged. Sam felt her stomach tighten. She knew things were starting to get out of control.
SJ
Jack stared at the forms in front of him, his face supported by his hand. He couldn't concentrate. He missed his wife. He longed to hold her, to kiss her, to run his fingers through her long hair.
It had been ten weeks since he had said goodbye to her. Ten weeks of going to bed alone. Ten weeks of waking up alone. Ten weeks of cooking for one. Ten weeks of complete loneliness.
He sighed. He was whipped and he knew it.
"General?" a voice said from his open doorway.
"Yes Marnie?" he asked his assistant, looking up to see her standing nervously under the door frame. She had only been his assistant for a week and was still incredibly nervous around the two star General.
"A message from General Landry at the SGC has just come through for you."
He held out his hand for the sheet of paper she held. Quickly, she made her way over to him and handed him the slip of folded paper.
His eyes skimmed the note quickly. He couldn't help but smile at the words.
Jack.
You're required on Atlantis. Nothing dangerous.
Hank.
p.s. Prepare yourself - if I could tell you more, I would.
"I'm apparently required on Atlantis," he said.
"Yes Sir," she nodded.
"Take the rest of the day off," he told her as he stood up and put on his jacket.
"But Sir I still have-"
"Finish what you're doing and take the rest of the day off," he said as he began walking out of the room.
"Yes Sir."
SJ
It was late by the time he got to Atlantis. She was waiting by the 'gate for him, a serious but worried expression on her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked, trying not to reach out to touch her.
"We need to talk. Let's go to my quarters," she said as she turned around and walked away.
"Sam?" he asked as soon as the door of her quarters had closed. His stomach had fallen out of him the second she had told him they needed to talk. His mind was reeling. Was she having second thoughts about him?
"Sit down," she said as she took his hand and led him over to her bed.
"What?" he asked as he sat down beside her, his arm around her shoulder, his body heat mingling with hers.
"There's no easy way to say this," she started, her voice soft and scared.
"Say what? Sam, you're scaring me here. What's happened?"
"Jack…" she tried, her eyes filling with tears.
He cupped her face in his hands and wiped away the few tears that escaped. He bent his head towards her and kissed her softly.
"Sam, please," he whispered.
"We found another mirror," she felt him stiffen at her words. "We never used it. But someone came through…"
"Who?" he felt his gut twist. He had no idea what to expect.
"We've done scans and blood tests. Apparently he is who he say's he is-"
"Sam!" he cut her off with her name. He kissed her again before looking her in the eyes. He saw the pain there. He wished he could take it away. "Dad?"
He knew she still missed her father terribly. Especially on their wedding day. She had wanted nothing more than for him to walk her down the aisle. General Hammond had proudly filled in, but he knew it wasn't the same.
"No," she shook her head.
"Me?" he watched her shake her head again. "Kawalsky? Daniel? Teal'c?" she shook her head at every name he mentioned. "Then who?"
"Charlie," she breathed as she looked him in the eyes. She saw his eyes widen in shock. She saw the emotions flash across them. Shock, pain, disbelief, anger.
He froze. His face and eyes held no emotion. Sam felt himself distancing himself from her. He removed his arm from around her shoulder and moved away from her.
Sam watched him move. She had never felt so alone.